HANOI, 7 July 2021: Vietnam’s leaders say they will trial a project that would allow vaccinated international travellers to visit Phu Quoc island.
Approval in principle came through last week for a proposal that would introduce a “vaccine passport” containing all relevant health information and details of the traveller’s vaccination and RT-PCR tests.
There is no working timetable on when the project will begin, but there is plenty of enthusiasm on Phu Quoc Island for any project that could bring back international tourists.
In ASEAN, Thailand opened its doors to vaccinated international visitors from 1 July under a pilot scheme, “Phuket Sandbox”. Travellers stay on the island for 14 days, after which they can then travel to other destinations in Thailand based on three negative RT-PCR tests during their stay.
Vietnam is considering a vaccination passport that would digitally store all the details of vaccinations and tests that could easily be checked by health and border checkpoint officials.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism presented the initial proposal to the government outlining details of a pilot project that would issue vaccination passports to Russian tourists who could then visit Phu Quoc Island without any restrictions.
It would involve vaccinating the island residents, foreign residents and migrant workers to create herd immunity. To enter the island located off the southern coast of Vietnam near the Cambodian border, International visitors would need to have a vaccine passport and present negative RT-PCR Covid-19 test results.
(Source: Nhan Dan official Communist Party voice)
